Do You Want to Play a Game?
by Aisuru1
Summary: *Finished, complete* Jareth is bored. Sarah is bored. Whatever will they do about it?
1. Default Chapter

[JS][HE]Aisuru, challenge #12, Do you want to play a game?  
  
Title: Do you want to play a game? Author: Aisuru Email: aisuru_chan@yahoo.com Rating: PG13 Summary: Jareth is bored. Sarah is bored. Whatever can be done about this?  
  
  
  
Jareth was bored. Really bored. It had been weeks since someone had tried to go through the Labyrinth. A very foolish mother had wished away her son. Of course she had had no hope of beating the Labyrinth. Only Sarah could do that. In fact, this idiot had failed almost immediately, refusing to believe that a worm could talk, and had continued following the seemingly straight path for 13 hours straight! No challenge at all. Of course he kept the kid, so he had a new goblin, but the child had made such a stupid goblin. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," he muttered, as he watched this new goblin try to bite one of the chickens again. The chicken squawked and pecked at the stupid goblin, but the goblin kept trying. Annoyed, he zapped the goblin into the bog of eternal stench.  
  
"That was fun," Jareth admitted, but he knew the euphoric feeling wouldn't last. After the challenge of Sarah, nothing could keep him happy for long.  
  
He slouched on his throne, calling goblins to come to him so he could kick them against the wall. They'd bounce and come back for more, stupid grins on their faces. "Boring," Jareth lamented.  
  
Then he made a decision. He would play a game with Sarah again! "That couldn't possibly be boring!" he thrilled, and set to work on finding a suitable trap for his new playmate.  
  
Sarah was bored. It had been almost a year since she had gone into the Labyrinth to rescue her step-brother, but since then nothing interesting had happened. Her school had cut the drama budget, so there hadn't even been a play to audition for! And her books: after being in the underground, the fantasy stories she used to love seemed somewhat foolish. Only her dreams, which had been increasingly more and more about Jareth and the underground, were slightly interesting, and she had written all of them down in a journal. Maybe someday she could write a screenplay about it, but for now, she just wished something would happen in the real world.  
  
"I'm so bored!" she lamented, sitting on the front steps of her house, chin in hand.  
  
"I'm so bored!" Toby mimicked, sitting next to her and mimicking her pose.  
  
"Stop that," she chided.  
  
"Stop that," Toby mimicked in his little voice.  
  
"Stop that, I mean it!" she said, really annoyed now.  
  
"Stop that, I mean it!" Toby kept pressing her patience.  
  
Sarah was tempted to wish him away, but as bored as she was, she wasn't sure she could put up with another round of Jareth. Still, a threat couldn't hurt... "Toby, if you keep that up I'll wish you away to the goblins again!" she threatened.  
  
Toby instantly quieted. He had only the faintest memories of that place, most of which were associated with Sarah's agitation once they had arrived home, but she had told him enough stories for him to take the threat seriously.  
  
"Come on, let's go inside," Sarah said, feeling a little guilty, since Toby was definitely taking her threat more seriously than she had anticipated. "I'll make us some dinner."  
  
Yet again, her step-mother had left her with all of the domestic duties. Her step-mother had gotten a job, and to her it made perfect sense that Sarah should pick Toby up from daycare after school and spend all of her free time minding him. Oh, and since she would be home anyway, she could prepare all the meals and do all the laundry, dishes, vacuuming, dusting, etc. It was enough to make Sarah want to pull out clumps of her beautiful brown hair. 'Okay, so I really do have too much to do to be bored,' she thought, 'but I want to spend my time doing something interesting, not just cleaning and babysitting!'  
  
That night, when Sarah was about to get ready for bed, a violent storm appeared. Thunder crashed and lightening flashed right next to the house, so when the power went out Sarah was not at all surprised. She was surprised, however, when she heard the rustling noise of goblins in her room, and a large white owl appeared, sitting on the tree outside her window.  
  
"What? What's going on?" Sarah asked aloud.  
  
"I've come to answer your summons," Jareth answered, as he had materialized in her bedroom as the lights came back on.  
  
Sarah hurled one of her slippers at him. "I didn't summon you. Go away."  
  
"Yes you did," he rebutted. "I heard you. You threatened to give Toby back to me. Do you want to run the Labyrinth again?"  
  
Sarah looked at Jareth as if he had grown a second head. "You mean do I want to risk life and limb, running myself ragged in your demented maze for 13 hours, for absolutely no reason?"  
  
Jareth nodded his head hopefully.  
  
"No way!" Sarah exclaimed. "I may be bored, but I'm not that bored."  
  
Jareth actually pouted. "But I want to play a game with you," he whined. "Nobody can run the Labyrinth like you can, Sarah."  
  
"Well, why don't you play a round of kick the goblins?" Sarah asked, unsure why Jareth was really in her bedroom making such odd requests.  
  
"I tried that," he said, slumping down so he was sitting on her bedroom floor. "Do you know any other games?"  
  
Sarah blinked. "You mean those are the only games you know?" she asked, surprised.  
  
Jareth nodded. "There aren't that many intelligent creatures in the underground to play with," he complained. "Do you know other games?"  
  
Sarah had to laugh. She opened her closet, which was full of all sorts of fantasy role playing games -- quite boring when you had to play by yourself, but still good for making up stories -- and more traditional board games. She even had a deck of cards.  
  
"Oh, let me see those," he said, pointing to the deck. She handed them to him, and he proceeded to entertain himself for several minutes doing shuffling tricks like a stage magician would. It was amusing for Sarah to watch a real magic user play at being a fraud, but Jareth wanted to play something WITH Sarah, so he handed the cards back to her. "How do you use them?" he asked.  
  
Sarah was surprised that after all of those card tricks, he really didn't know how to play cards, but she shrugged and showed him the different cards and what they meant. She tried explaining poker to him, but the game was too confusing, so she taught him go-fish instead.  
  
"Do you have any 7's?" he asked.  
  
Sarah pouted and handed him her two 7's. Jareth put the hand down on the floor. "I win!" he cried. "Now you have to stay in the underground with me forever and be my Queen!"  
  
"Whoa, hold the horses!" Sarah exclaimed. "I never agreed to that!"  
  
"Well, what did you think we were playing for?" he asked, confused.  
  
"I thought we were playing for fun! You never said anything about a wager."  
  
Jareth pouted again, a very strange sight. "It's no fun without a wager," he complained. Then he smiled. "How about we play again, and if I win you come to the underground forever, and if I lose then you get to keep Toby."  
  
"No way!" Sarah exclaimed. "Toby is already mine! And besides, those stakes are way too high. Do you want to play for nickels?"  
  
Jareth shook his head. "I don't have any money, and I have no use for money in the underground. What else is there to play for?"  
  
After an infuriatingly long conversation, during which Jareth struck down her every suggestion and his every suggestion involved her staying in the Labyrinth for all eternity if she lost, she made a final, desperate, totally foolish suggestion. "How about strip go-fish?"  
  
"Strip?" Jareth asked, intrigued.  
  
Sarah blushed, wishing she hadn't brought it up, but Jareth was interested, and an interested Jareth was going to settle for nothing but a complete description of this new wager. "Um," she began, looking at her hands in her lap. "Every time you lose, you have to take off something."  
  
"Take off?" Jareth asked.  
  
Sarah really wished she hadn't brought this up. Not that Jareth wouldn't look really fine in the buff... "Clothing," she clarified. "Every time you lose, you have to take off a piece of clothing."  
  
Jareth liked this idea. "And if you're naked first, I get to take you to the underground to be my Queen?" he suggested.  
  
"Absolutely not!" Sarah cried. "Having to take off your clothes is the entire wager. Nothing else. And no fair making extra pieces of clothing appear under the ones you are already wearing. This has to be a fair game."  
  
Jareth nodded. "All games have rules that must be followed. Sarah, I accept your challenge." As he spoke those words, a bolt of lightening flashed really close to the house and the lights flickered again.  
  
"Don't do that, it's creepy," she complained, wishing she had kept her slippers on instead of throwing them at Jareth.  
  
The game began.  
  
Round one went to Sarah. Jareth tried to take off one of the fasteners of his cape, but Sarah insisted the whole cape come off. "Do you want me removing my earrings one at a time?" she asked. "Or my barrettes?"  
  
Round two went to Jareth. Sarah removed her socks. Jareth made a comment about the bog of eternal stench, so she threw them in his face.  
  
Round three went to Jareth again. Sarah removed the sweater she had (thankfully) been wearing over her blouse.  
  
Round four went to Sarah. Jareth removed his boots.  
  
Round five went to Sarah. Jareth removed his shirt. (Yummy)  
  
Round six went to Jareth (of course, Sarah couldn't concentrate with Jareth's naked chest available for her viewing pleasure). It was Sarah's turn to remove her shirt.  
  
Jareth lost round seven. He removed a pair of socks that Sarah was almost positive hadn't been on his feet a moment before, but she wasn't going to press the issue. She wished suddenly that they had decided upon some sort of stopping point for the game...  
  
Nervous, Sarah lost round eight. Off went the jeans. Jareth was annoyed to find that mortal women not only wore britches, but wore britches under their britches. Sarah realized this meant that Jareth went commando. She wasn't sure wanted Jareth to lose again...  
  
Sarah lost round nine. She flushed red as a tomato as the bra came off. Jareth's eyes wouldn't stay on his cards after that.  
  
He easily lost round ten, even with Sarah holding her cards so awkwardly over her chest that he could have seen half of her cards had he been paying enough attention.  
  
Sarah and Jareth, the school girl and the Goblin King, looked at each other, knowing that each had only one more garment to lose before total nudity. Then what? Did mutual nudity imply some deeper, more permanent relationship? Would they ever be able to look at each other the same way again?  
  
Neither wanted to look the chicken, so Jareth shuffled the deck and dealt the cards, and in utter silence they surveyed their hands. Then the gamed began, with only the shuffling of cards and the words "Do you have a..." and "Go fish" breaking the awkward silence of the room.  
  
Jareth lost. He looked up at Sarah, her embarrassed face, the way her eyes were staring intently at the wall above his head. He looked down at his tights, the only remaining barrier between his very-mature parts and the innocence of Sarah's eyes. He vanished in a cloud of glitter.  
  
Sarah, sitting on her bedroom floor, arms draped helplessly across her breasts, stared in shock at the fading cloud of glitter. "Hey!" she shouted. "You cheated!" 


	2. Chapter 2

[JS][HE]Aisuru, challenge #10, Do you want to play a game?  
  
Title: Do you want to play a game? Author: Aisuru Email: aisuru_chan@yahoo.com Rating: PG13 Summary: Jareth is bored. Sarah is bored. Whatever can be done about this?  
  
  
  
Jareth was bored. Really bored. It had been weeks since someone had tried to go through the Labyrinth. This time it had been a babysitter. This boy was smart enough to have gotten further than he did, but the truth was he really didn't care what happened to the kid. He followed the worm's advice, getting him out of the straight shot to nowhere, and he even found his way to the two doors -- the one that always lies and the other that always tells the truth. The boy, a psychology major, was fascinated by the doors, and spent the remainder of the time asking them questions and jotting down notes in a little notebook he had brought along. Of course he kept the kid, so he had a new goblin, and this child wasn't nearly as stupid as the one he had won from the mother a few weeks before that, but this goblin had terrible separation anxiety and had a tendency to cling to his leg. It was getting so he had to teleport everywhere just to shake the annoying little bugger.  
  
Jareth tried amusing himself by teleporting only a few feet away from the little guy, so he'd run to him and grab onto his leg again, just to teleport again as soon as the guy thought his grip was secure. It was good fun until the goblin decided to throw a screaming fit. He ended up spending hours sitting on his throne, the little guy clinging to his leg, until it finally fell asleep. Then he kicked it across the room and teleported to earth.  
  
After his latest challenge with Sarah, nothing could keep his mind off of her for long.  
  
In owl form, he wandered her town, peering in windows at the people whose lives touched hers in some way, shape, or form. He missed her. He missed her smile, her arrogance, her pride... Oh, hell, he missed her breasts. He missed her breasts, and he wanted to see them again, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to trick her into becoming his Queen -- because he didn't just want her smile, her arrogance, her pride, and her breasts. He wanted all of her! Jareth would have rested his head in his hand at the helplessness of it all if he hadn't been in owl form.  
  
Then he made a decision. He would play another game with Sarah again! "There is no way that could ever be boring!" he decided, realizing that even if he couldn't trick her into becoming his queen he could at least leer at her and remember what her breasts looked like under her shirt. With that great purpose in mind, he flew to Sarah's house.  
  
Sarah was bored. Nothing had happened in the real world that was worth mentioning since Jareth and her had played that last little game. Of course, her dreams had become a lot more interesting. For some reason, they had a lot to do with her breasts... She shook her head to try to clear away the thought. Needless to say, she had stopped writing her dreams down in her journal.  
  
Her father and step-mother had gone to a play tonight, and even knowing her love of all things theatrical they had taken Toby and not her! "No fair!" she had cried out, even after she had realized they were really going to see some cartoon character on ice. Now she was home alone, which would have been great if she had been a normal teenager with friends to invite over so the house would be thoroughly trashed by the time her parents came home, but she had no such friends. Heck, the few friends she had managed to hold onto, with all of her weirdness, were probably in bed by now. "I'm so bored!" she lamented, resigning herself to sitting on her floor and wondering what would have happened had Jareth not chickened out and left the game prematurely.  
  
"I'm so bored!" a voice mimicked, and Sarah's first thought was that Toby was at it yet again.  
  
"Stop that," she chided.  
  
"Stop that," the voice mimicked. Sarah looked around her, seeing that the room was empty except for herself. The voice was not Toby's voice, but was instead someone's falsetto impression of a child's voice.  
  
"Stop that, I mean it!" she said, annoyed and more than a little frightened.  
  
"Stop that, I mean it!" the voice replied, but this time it sounded a bit like Jareth's voice. Sarah rose to her feet and looked out the window. Sure enough, a white owl sat perched on the tree in her yard.  
  
Threatening to wish Jareth away would accomplish absolutely nothing, so Sarah pretended that she hadn't seen the owl and planned her oh-so-immature revenge. "Who is that?" she asked.  
  
"Who is that?" Jareth-owl mimicked.  
  
"Is someone there?" she asked.  
  
"Is someone there?" Jareth-owl repeated.  
  
"Too bad Jareth isn't here; he'd protect me."  
  
"Too bad Jareth isn't here; he'd protect me." Jareth-owl stated, sounding quite pleased.  
  
"Of course, he is a lousy cheating chicken," she stated, keeping her tone pleasant despite her words.  
  
"Of course, he is a lousy cheating... Hey!" Jareth-owl complained.  
  
Sarah grinned and opened her window. Jareth appeared in her room, scowling. "I didn't like that game!" he complained.  
  
Sarah looked out the window past Jareth. The sky was dark, as it was night, but the twinkling stars could still be seen, and there was no sign of rain, thunder, or lightening. "What's with the quiet approach?" Sarah asked. At Jareth's raised eyebrow -- he was still annoyed -- she explained. "Whenever you've come before it's been all theatrical and stormy."  
  
"Oh, that," Jareth said, dismissing the idea with the wave of a hand. "That ruins the stealth."  
  
"Oh," Sarah answered.  
  
"So," Jareth began, "do you want to play another game?" He grinned at her, a dark glint in his eyes that Sarah didn't like too much.  
  
"Not after the way you cheated last time!" she complained.  
  
"But I did that for you," he insisted. "Everything I do I do for you."  
  
Sarah rolled her eyes.  
  
"Did you really want to see my magic wand?" he asked.  
  
Sarah refused to answer the question.  
  
Jareth asked another question instead. "Do you want to run my labyrinth again?"  
  
Sarah looked at Jareth as if he had grown a second head, again. "We've already gone through this. I don't want to risk life and limb, running myself ragged in your demented maze for 13 hours, for absolutely no reason!"  
  
Jareth pouted. "How about another game?" Sarah shook her head. "I want to play another game with you," he whined. Sarah wasn't moved. "Don't you have any games that are cheat-proof?" he finally asked.  
  
Sarah opened her closet yet again. None of the games were cheat-proof so far as she could tell, at least not for the Goblin King. She sighed. "We could watch television" she finally suggested.  
  
"Who is this television? And why does it want to be watched?" he asked, curious.  
  
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Television isn't sentient. It doesn't want anything. You just watch it."  
  
"But if it isn't sentient, doesn't it just sit there? What's the fun in watching it?" Jareth just wasn't getting it, and Sarah realized it would be much easier to show him then to explain it to him. She grabbed his gloved hand and led him downstairs to the living room.  
  
"That," she said, pointing to a wooden box with a black glass face, "is a television."  
  
Jareth looked at it critically for a moment. He could see the reflection of the room in the glass, but it wasn't very interesting. "Boring," he moaned.  
  
Then Sarah clicked a button, and the television seemed to come to life. Bright lights flooded the room from the little box, and little images of little people seemed to dance on the glass surface. More impressively, though, was the sound that was emanating from the big boxes situated around the room. It sounded like he was really surrounded by the beings on the screen.  
  
"A couple of rules for the television," Sarah began, knowing that Jareth was very interested in rules (unless they involved him taking his pants off, of course). "Nothing you see on this screen is really in this room. They can't hurt you, they can't respond to you, and they won't do what you tell them to. These shows are pre-recorded." At Jareth's blank look, she said, "This is a look into the past." Jareth nodded.  
  
Sarah motioned for Jareth to sit on the couch. She sat next to him -- a respectful distance away, of course -- and began flipping through the channels to see what was on. She was pretty high up in the channels when something caught Jareth's attention more than anything they had previously passed: Xena.  
  
"Aiyiyiyiyi!" the speakers screamed from all around them. Jareth was enchanted.  
  
Sarah sat back against the couch, realizing that she was going to be watching the Xena marathon instead of whatever nice magical fantasy movies might be on. She looked over at Jareth, whose eyes were glued to the screen, and found herself wishing she did have some friends that would throw a party and trash her step-mother's furniture. Then maybe she would be thought of as a little less responsible and she wouldn't have to watch Toby all the time!  
  
"Aiyiyiyiyi!" Xena screamed again.  
  
Then Sarah got an idea. It wasn't as stupid an idea as playing strip go- fish with the Goblin King; it was worse. "I just thought of a game," she announced. This actually attracted Jareth's attention. He always loved a good game!  
  
She found the vodka hidden in her father's office. She grabbed two of her step-mother's collectible shot glasses from vacation destinations around the world. They began the game.  
  
"Aiyiyiyiyi!" Xena screamed. They each took a drink.  
  
"Aiyiyiyiyi!" Xena screamed. They each took a drink.  
  
"Aiyiyiyiyi!" Xena screamed. They each took a drink.  
  
"Aiyiyiyiyi!" Xena screamed. They each took a drink.  
  
Jareth thought this game was fun enough, but he really didn't see the point. Sure, the shot of vodka gave its usual 30 second buzz, but then his magic processed the alcohol and it was all over. Then he looked at Sarah. She was grinning foolishly. Her posture had slumped into something overly casual. She noticed him looking at her. "Hi," she slurred, waving in his direction. Then she giggled as if that was the funniest thing she'd ever heard before.  
  
Jareth smirked. Now the game made sense. Yes, this was a very fun game. He scooted closer to Sarah, who giggled and tried to teasingly slap him away. She missed him entirely. He draped his arm over her shoulder. She blew a raspberry at him before snuggling into his embrace. "Jareth feels nice," she gushed, running one of her hands over the silky material of his shirt. Jareth allowed his eyes to close, enjoying her touch, as fumbling as it may have been.  
  
"Sarah?" Jareth asked.  
  
"What, Goblin King?" she asked.  
  
"Do you like me?"  
  
Sarah giggled. "Silly."  
  
"Do you like me?" he asked again.  
  
"Of course I like you," she answered, trying to look up at him and falling against his arm. "You're my Goblin King."  
  
"Do you like my labyrinth?" he asked.  
  
"I like all the walls and the funny little worm," she answered.  
  
"Would you like to be a Queen in the underground, with a room overlooking the labyrinth?"  
  
"I'm a princess!" Sarah answered, then said, "I like the little worm. He wants me to have tea with him. He said 'allo!" She went into a fit of giggles.  
  
"Do you want to kick the goblins whenever you want?" he continued.  
  
"Silly Goblin King," Sarah answered.  
  
Jareth made a funny face he usually reserved for children he stole. Sarah fell off the couch laughing. He picked her back up and settled her into his lap. "Now, Sarah, I'm going to ask you a very important question. Will you pay attention?"  
  
"Aiyiyiyiyi!" Xena screamed. Jareth had to help Sarah with her drink.  
  
"Will you pay attention, please?" Jareth asked with a pout.  
  
Sarah reached up awkwardly and flicked her finger over his lower lip. "Pretty Jareth," she said.  
  
'At least she's looking at me,' Jareth thought. This game did seem to have its limitations. "Sarah," he began again, "Would you like to come with me to the underground, and live forever, and be my Queen? Say you wish it, Sarah."  
  
"I wish it, Sarah," she mimicked. She was still giggling when they disappeared from the living room and reappeared in Jareth's bedroom. He gently set his new Queen on his black silk sheets and gave her a tender kiss, full of love and affection. She started snoring. He decided to lay down next to her and take a little nap as well; he could always look at her breasts tomorrow. After all, she would not be with him for eternity. 


End file.
